Man, 5-yr-old son killed as CNG truck catches fire

A 50-year-old man and his minor son were killed after their CNG-powered mini truck caught fire in Navagam village of Sayla taluka of Surendranagar district Sunday.

Officers of Dhajala police station said the incident occurred at 11:30 am when Lalji Khorani, a soft drink delivery man, was returning to his native village of Chiroda in adjoining Chotila taluka. “The mini truck caught fire suddenly when it was negotiating a curve. Khorani and his five-year-old son Amit were trapped in the driver’s cabin as the doors locked. The father-son duo was killed before farmers working in the nearby agricultural fields spotted the truck on fire, rushed to the spot and doused the fire,” Mukeshdan Ishrani, police sub-inspector (PSI) of Dhajala told The Indian Express.

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The PSI said that Khorani was a resident of Chiroda village. “Navagam is the village of Khorani’s in-laws. He was on his way back from his in-law’s place when the incident occurred,” Ishrani said, adding, ”Prima facie, the CNG sparked the fire.”

Police said the bodies were taken to a community health centre (CHC) for post-mortem and were in the process of registering a case of accidental death.